British Airways 'shuttle' services

[didcotdean]

British Airways had shuttle services on various domestic routes from 1975. Turn up at the gate at least 10 minutes before departure and you were guaranteed a seat even if they needed to put on an extra plane. Pay on board by cash or credit card.

 

[Bletchleyite]

British Airways had shuttle services on various domestic routes from 1975. Turn up at the gate at least 10 minutes before departure and you were guaranteed a seat even if they needed to put on an extra plane. Pay on board by cash or credit card.

I believe this led to some amazing oddities, like people getting Concorde or a 747 to themselves as it was the only aircraft they had spare and one too many people turned up for the booked aircraft.

 

[AdamWW]

British Airways had shuttle services on various domestic routes from 1975. Turn up at the gate at least 10 minutes before departure and you were guaranteed a seat even if they needed to put on an extra plane. Pay on board by cash or credit card.

I knew about the shuttle - the timetables used to list the aircraft type as "equipment varies" and I did hear a story that they once put Concorde on one of them, though that may have been a bit of a publicity stunt.

I didn't know you paid on board though.

I also read that if they were only a few people left over once the plane was full they weren't terribly keen on finding another plane just for them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I also read that if they were only a few people left over once the plane was full they weren't terribly keen on finding another plane just for them.

Given that putting on another aircraft would cost a fortune, it would make sense to offer those passengers a significant financial incentive to wait.

 

[Ediswan]

I didn't know you paid on board though.

I recall reading that this was planned, but never implemented, due to a union demarcation dispute.

 

[AdamWW]

Given that putting on another aircraft would cost a fortune, it would make sense to offer those passengers a significant financial incentive to wait.

I have read that this was indeed what happened.

 

[nlogax]

I have read that this was indeed what happened.

Towards the end of the offering, maybe?. As a kid in the mid 80s I vaguely remember the ads were still putting boasting about providing an extra plane for a single passenger if needed. Example..

https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/ef2b2603-5769-45b3-90d7-a66a73aa22fa

 

[AdamWW]

Towards the end of the offering, maybe?. As a kid in the mid 80s I vaguely remember the ads were still putting boasting about providing an extra plane for a single passenger if needed. Example..

https://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/ef2b2603-5769-45b3-90d7-a66a73aa22fa

There may be a difference between what the adverts boasted and what they usually did in practise.

Then again if they were paying for aircraft and crew to be on standby, perhaps they might as well use them...

 

[najaB]

Given that putting on another aircraft would cost a fortune

In those days it would have been a lot cheaper than now. Fuel was super-cheap and the pilots were likely paid to be on standby anyway.

 

[PsychoMouse]

A similar thing used to happen in the NE USA out of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia in NYC (on PanAm originally nut taken over by Delta). Turn up and go services to Washington, Boston and Chicago.

There still are hourly flights to these places from La Guardia I believe.

 

[edwin_m]

A similar thing used to happen in the NE USA out of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia in NYC (on PanAm originally nut taken over by Delta). Turn up and go services to Washington, Boston and Chicago.

There still are hourly flights to these places from La Guardia I believe.

Didn't Eastern pioneer this on that route and BA pinched the idea? When I stayed in New York in 1985 I did a trip to Boston on Amtrak, but it was too slow at the time to see any of the city and return by train, so came back from Logan to LaGuardia on an A300. I also flew with my father on the Shuttle from Edinburgh to Heathrow at age 14 for the experience (he was a fairly regular user), also sampling the then-new Piccadilly line. But I don't recall the details of the ticketing arrangements for either.

 

[PsychoMouse]

Aah yes your right PanAm took it over in the 80s after Eastern went bump. All well before my time.

I think American are the current operators.

 

[AdamWW]

Aah yes your right PanAm took it over in the 80s after Eastern went bump. All well before my time.

I think American are the current operators.

And now I think we've come full circle, because this thread started (on a somewhat less appropriate part of the forum) with discussion of a US shuttle service...

 

[cav1975]

I recall my brother travelling on the BA shuttle from Scotland (I don't remember which city) to London. The offering included luggage but BA hadn't put a weight limit. He took about 100kg of core samples with him - He was a civil engineer. BA reluctantly accepted his "luggage" and he saved a fortune in freight charges

 

[AdamWW]

I recall my brother travelling on the BA shuttle from Scotland (I don't remember which city) to London. The offering included luggage but BA hadn't put a weight limit. He took about 100kg of core samples with him - He was a civil engineer. BA reluctantly accepted his "luggage" and he saved a fortune in freight charges

I wonder if the rules quietly changed after that?

 

[Strathclyder]

On the subject of the BA shuttles, three Concordes posed together at Glasgow Airport to mark the launch of the Super Shuttle in August 1983; all 3 were in normal passenger service that day, but I think it was a publicity stunt at it's core. 757s had not long been introduced at the time:



Can't think of many other places other than Heathrow and JFK at a push where you had more than one BA Concorde present at once.

 

[Bald Rick]

I also flew with my father on the Shuttle from Edinburgh to Heathrow at age 14 for the experience (he was a fairly regular user), also sampling the then-new Piccadilly line.

New Piccadilly line … 1906??

 

[PsychoMouse]

Can't think of many other places other than Heathrow and JFK at a push where you had more than one BA Concorde present at once.

Fairly certain it's happened at Birmingham, one may have been Air France however.

Barbados or Miami are other possibilities.

 

[edwin_m]

New Piccadilly line … 1906??

The first bit was new, the next bit was originally the District, and we didn't hit the 1906 bit until Hammersmith. The trains were nearly new over the entire route though.

 

[Strathclyder]

Fairly certain it's happened at Birmingham, one may have been Air France however.

Barbados or Miami are other possibilities.

I didn't consider any of those, good shouts.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

On the subject of the BA shuttles, three Concordes posed together at Glasgow Airport to mark the launch of the Super Shuttle in August 1983; all 3 were in normal passenger service that day, but I think it was a publicity stunt at it's core. 757s had not long after been introduced at the time:

Yes, it was a stunt - but Concorde was used for many years as the official shuttle back up aircraft for when demand exceeded the regular capacity but they would also use one randomly every now and again as a means of attracting custom. The three at once was done for the purposes of the launch.

Once it had become established, workers whose offices overlooked Heathrow became adept at spotting when Concorde was placed at a Shuttle stand and then quickly booking the rest of the day off and dashing over to fly the relevant shuttle...

 

[Strathclyder]

Yes, it was a stunt - but Concorde was used for many years as the official shuttle back up aircraft for when demand exceeded the regular capacity but they would also use one randomly every now and again as a means of attracting custom. The three at once was done for the purposes of the launch.

Suspected as much, cheers.

Once it had become established, workers whose offices overlooked Heathrow became adept at spotting when Concorde was placed at a Shuttle stand and then quickly booking the rest of the day off and dashing over to fly the relevant shuttle...

Can't say I blame them; I'd be doing the exact same thing!

 

[nlogax]

On the subject of the BA shuttles, three Concordes posed together at Glasgow Airport to mark the launch of the Super Shuttle in August 1983; all 3 were in normal passenger service that day, but I think it was a publicity stunt at it's core. 757s had not long been introduced at the time:

View attachment 128932

Can't think of many other places other than Heathrow and JFK at a push where you had more than one BA Concorde present at once.

Wow, lovely shot. In all the time I've spent sat in that end of the terminal I would never have imagined those three being parked right there.

 

[Strathclyder]

Wow, lovely shot. In all the time I've spent sat in that end of the terminal I would never have imagined those three being parked right there.

Rather hard to fathom that many Concordes being up here at once. I know single airframes (from both BA and AF) paid multiple visits over the years, but this was another level entirely.

An appropriate bookend to this is that the Concorde closest to the camera (G-BOAA) is now on display at East Fortune over in East Lothian.

 

[najaB]

Fairly certain it's happened at Birmingham, one may have been Air France however.

Barbados or Miami are other possibilities.

Can confirm it used to be a fairly regular occurrence in Barbados - there were maybe six Saturdays a year with a double BA service. The record was three, though one was Air France.

Link to Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/98ooib/three_concorde_planes_parked_at_grantley_adams/

That's how we managed to score G-BOAE in retirement.

 

[Strathclyder]

Can confirm it used to be a fairly regular occurrence in Barbados - there were maybe six Saturdays a year with a double BA service. The record was three, though one was Air France.

Link to Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/98ooib/three_concorde_planes_parked_at_grantley_adams/

That's how we managed to score G-BOAE in retirement.

Another reminder there of how much better a livery BA Landor was than Chatham Dockyard. The Concorde variant was particularly striking.

 

[najaB]

Another reminder there of how much better a livery BA Landor was than Chatham Dockyard. The Concorde variant was particularly striking.

I used to think the same, but Chatham Dockyard has grown on me now.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Another reminder there of how much better a livery BA Landor was than Chatham Dockyard. The Concorde variant was particularly striking.

I think Landor appeared better on subsonic aircraft, with the blue lower fuselage.

 

[Strathclyder]

I used to think the same, but Chatham Dockyard has grown on me now.

Might just be nostalgia talking tbh. Don't get me wrong, Chatham Dockyard is a fine livery, but for me, Landor was and still is in a class of it's own.

I think Landor appeared better on subsonic aircraft, with the blue lower fuselage.

Very true. 747s, L-1011s, DC-10s, classic 737s and the few Tridents that got it looked particularly fetching in that variant.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Might just be nostalgia talking tbh. Don't get me wrong, Chatham Dockyard is a fine livery, but for me, Landor was and still is in a class of it's own.


Very true. 747s, L-1011s, DC-10s, classic 737s and the few Tridents that got it looked particularly fetching in that variant.

I'd agree that Landor was the best livery they had.

...and to stay on the subject of the Shuttle, it was one Trident that recieved it, albeit not in service; one was retained for training purposes and it got reliveried: G-AWZK. This is the one which is currently at Manchester in BEA livery.